I’ve downloaded myself a half-marathon training plan in preparation for starting training for the Great Eastern Run in October. The world of training plans is vast and quite overwhelming – should I choose one based on how fast I want to complete the race, or one designed for a beginner, or more of an intermediate?

I finally plumpted for one which is tailored to me by ‘Smartcoach’, a tool on the Runners’ World website that customises a training plan to you based on how many weeks you want to train for, how many miles you currently run per week and how fast you ran your last race. The plan starts off looking tame enough for me to be able to cope with is and gradually increases ge get me up to half-marathon distance. OK so far.

Three new phrases have come into my consciousness since printing off that training plan. They are ‘speed work’, ‘tempo runs’ and ‘easy runs’. Forgetting the first two phrases for the moment as they’re some sort of running jargon for ‘running fast’ that will be tripping off my tounge in no time at all, it was the phrase ‘easy run’ that confused me.

Of course, I’m familiar with the word ‘easy’ and with the word ‘run’, but I’ve never had cause to use them together because, and I’m surely not alone in this, I don’t find running easy. Rewarding – yes, satisfying – yes, hard – yes, easy – no.